X Men: Rising
by Benjamin J Brown
Summary: AU. When Charles Xavier and his friend Eric Lensherr part ways due to difference of opinion, Charles realises that he needs not just a school to help train mutants to use their powers. He needs a team to fight Eric's brotherhood. He needs the X-men.
1. Prologue Part 1

**Diclaimer: I Own nothing.**

**...**

**Saigon, South Vietnam, 1975**

First Lieutenant Charles Xavier stood with his back to the wall, his M16 assault rifle clutched in his hands against his green uniform, his dark brown hair covered in small particles of dust. He was in Vietnam, working on an evacuation operation to pull out American civilians, as well as Vietnamese citizens that were deemed 'at risk'. He disliked the idea of having to determine who was 'at risk' and who wasn't. However, he had chosen to join the marines following his mother's death.

He wasn't going to just sit around in the Westchester estate his father owned. He didn't like the things he heard there. He always knew what his father was thinking. Quite literally. He had an ability, a power. A power to read the minds of others. It had made him an excellent soldier, once his first attempted career as a science teacher had failed. His issue with reading and writing had made sure of that.

So, he'd chosen to join the military of his second country, the country his mother was from. He'd considered the British military, but if they were anything like his father, he would have simply grown to loathe everyone there. So, he'd joined the US Marine corps. And now, he was there, in Vietnam.

He peered round the corner, seeing a big built Caucasian man in a scientist's outfit as he did. Charles stepped out, walking towards the man to give him some cover from anyone who might decide to fire on the civilian. It wasn't exactly unheard of in the conflict.

As the man ran past him, Charles began to back up, before hearing something crack behind him. He turned around, seeing two of the other Marines had joined him. He recognised both of their faces, but could only put a name to one.

The man he knew was a Sergeant, a man who had, as a small boy in Poland, been penalised by the Nazi's in World War II for being Jewish. The man had jet black hair, and was built slightly larger than Charles. His name was Eric Lensherr. The two had know each other for a couple of years now, and were as close to proper friends as people could get in the military.

"Ever the protector, aren't you Charles?" Eric said, smirking slightly, his voice still possessing a slightly European accent despite his 30 years in the United States.

"Well Eric, someone has to protect the innocent from harm." Charles replied, also smirking.

As he did, he saw Eric's facial expression change to one of surprise. Charles span, turning his head and gun ahead of him, in time to see a Vietnamese soldier firing a gun at his head. As he closed his eyes, expecting to die, he instead felt a sharp pain at the bottom of his back, falling to the floor with a scream of pain and opening his eyes, seeing the man who shot him falling to the floor, dead.

Eric came running over to him, as did the other soldier. He picked Charles up as gently as he could manage, beginning to carry him towards the chopper, the other soldier covering them as they went.

"I'm sorry I didn't manage to deflect the bullet." Eric said "I didn't have enough time to concentrate on it."

"It's okay, Eric." Charles replied, wincing in pain as he was lifted into the chopper "If it weren't for you, I'd be dead right now. Besides, having feeling in your legs is overrated."

Eric moved Charles over to a medical gurney, setting him down on it before rolling him on his front. Eric looked round quickly before putting his hand above the wound on Charles' back and beginning to focus. As he did, the bullet slowly came out of the wound, as if being pulled by a magnet. He put pressure on the wound before looking around and spotting the man Charles had got back to the chopper.

"Hey, you!" Eric said, pointing at the man "You're a scientist, right?"

"Uh, yeah." The man said "Well, I'm training to be one. I came out her to work on my thesis and-"

"Great." Eric cut him off "Get over here and keep the pressure on his wound. I dug the bullet out, so you don't need to worry about that."

"I'm a scientist, not a doctor." The man replied.

"That doesn't matter. What matters is he saved your life, you owe him." Eric said, as the man came over and took over from Eric "Now, I'm going to go get a bandage from the medical kit over there so we can dress his injury, okay?"

"Yes." The man said as Eric began to walk over to the medical kit.

That was the last thing Charles heard before everything faded to black.

**...**

**4 days later**

Charles woke up with a start, his eyes snapping wide open. He tried to sit up but found he couldn't. He looked down, trying to lift his left leg. He couldn't. He put his hands on the mattress, using them to prop himself up against the headboard so he could better see the room.

He was in his bedroom, in the Westchester estate, a number of medical machines by his bed. He looked around the room, seeing it basically unchanged from the last time he was there, aside from one detail. The wheelchair in the corner of the room.

As he looked at it, there was a knock on the door, causing him to turn to see his father walking in, followed by Eric. His father looked down at him, the disappointment in his face evident.

"I told you not to go." He said "But you had to go anyway, didn't you, Charles?"

"Hi dad, I'm fine thanks, how have you been?" Charles replied, sarcastically.

"Don't get smart with me, boy!" His father said "You went to join the military and now I'm stuck with a cripple for a son."

"Well, I'm sorry I'm such a disappointment." Charles said, turning to Eric "What happened?"

Eric said nothing, simply sighing. Charles' father turned to Eric and scowled slightly.

"My son asked you a question." He said "Or rather, what's left of him did."

"Mr. Xavier, that's uncalled for!" Eric snapped "Your son's a hero, and you're treating him as if he's some sub-human thing!"

"How dare you talk to me like that in my house!" Charles' father said "Get out! You're not welcome here!"

"Good bye, Charles." Eric said "I'm sorry for all this."

Charles watched Eric walk out before turning to his father, his face full of anger.

"He's right, father!" Charles said "Still, you finally got what you wanted. Me out of the military."

"How did you-" His father began.

"They're hardly going to want a man in a wheelchair in the marines, are they?" Charles cut him off "So congratulations, you got me out of there."

"Charles, regardless of my feelings about your military service, I would rather you were in the military that _this._" His father said as a young, tall, well built man walked in "This is Doctor Hank McCoy. He's been taking care of you."

"Thanks doc." Charles said.

"That's quite alright, Mr. Xavier." Hank replied "I'm just glad you're feeling better."

"Call me Charles." Charles replied "Mr. Xavier is my father."

"I'm going now Charles." Charles' father said "I'll see you later. When I do, I expect you to show a little more respect!"

Charles' father walked out, leaving Hank to explain to Charles the extent of his injuries. Then he got onto the results of the blood tests, and explaining the extent of his findings. The extent of what Charles was. He was a mutant.

**...**

**So, that's chapter one of this fic. Well, prologue. Part one. We've got three of the characters introduced already. Next chapter will deal with the lead up to the main event. And what causes Charles and Eric to drift apart. R&R, please, no flames. B.**


	2. Prologue Part 2

**Okay, so here's part two of the prologue. Yes, I am aware that, since I've done both on the same day, I may as well have done it as one massive chapter, but this is me breaking up the chapter so as to make it easier for people to read. Once again, allow me to state, I own nothing. Now, enjoy.**

**...**

**Xavier Estate, Westchester, New York, 1978**

Charles sat in his wheelchair, looking out of the window in his study overlooking the estate. _His_ estate. Since his father had died the previous year, he had inherited the estate, including the vast network of tunnels his father had had built in the war as a safety measure. He'd had a considerable amount of work done to the tunnels, turning them into a state of the art facility with which he could do what he had decided to.

He'd come to realise that, had Eric been able to receive help with learning to fully control his abilities, Charles himself would not be in the wheelchair and Eric would not be suffering the guilt from it. To that end, he had decided to use the estate as a place from which he could train young mutants in how to properly control their abilities.

The large number of rooms in the mansion allowed him to begin to redesign it as a boarding school. His faculty so far included himself, Eric and Hank McCoy, the doctor who had helped Charles following him being confined to the chair, whom Charles had discovered possessed his own mutation that gave him almost simian abilities, including feet he could use in the same way as his hands, as well as greater strength, speed, agility, durability and stamina than most people, as well as apparently aging at around two thirds of the usual rate. He would need one or two more faculty members before he could open, but they were getting there.

As he began to look further into the grounds, he saw Eric's reflection in the window as he walked through the door behind Charles. Charles turned his chair around to face him, smiling at his friend, being met only with a grimace.

"There have been more riots, Charles." Eric said "How long do we need to let our fellow mutants endure this?"

"Eric, you have to give them a chance." Charles replied "We both know how humanity can grow and change."

"Well, in the meantime, what are we going to do?" Eric said "We can't even find other mutants to help them."

"Actually, Hank and I have been working on that." Charles said, beginning to wheel himself out of the room and towards the elevator "Follow me and I'll show you."

...

A few minutes later, down in the basement level below the estate, they came to a large circular door with an 'X' on it. Charles moved his chair to the keypad by it, keying in the code, causing the door to roll off to the other side. He moved into room beyond, followed by Eric.

The room was a large sphere, around 15 metres top to bottom and the same side to side. A large walkway led to a circular platform roughly 2 metres in diameter. It had a console coming up to a point level with Charles' chest. On the platform was a helmet like headset, attached to the console with a number of wires.

"It's called Cerebro." Charles said, answering Eric's enquiry about it before he could voice it "This machine will amplify my powers and allow me to use them to detect other mutants."

"Sorry, what was that?" Eric asked "Did you just say it will let you use your powers to detect mutants?"

"Yes." Charles replied, smirking slightly "Mutants and Humans have slightly different structures as to how their minds work. The end results are identical, but the processes are different, albeit only slightly. Cerebro lets me home in on those differences so as to detect other mutants. If I focus, I can see where they are and where they plan to go. Ready to go on a recruitment drive?"

Before Eric could answer, Charles picked up the headset and put it on then began to focus.

**...**

**Xavier Estate, Westchester, New York, 1985**

Charles sat in his office, reading the morning newspaper as he sipped his cup of tea. Hank and Eric were sat opposite him, each of them with their own drinks. Over the past seven years, they had recruited three new faculty members from different places and were almost ready to open the school.

Their first recruit as a teacher had been a young woman who had been working in a bar named Raven Darkholme. She had the ability to change her appearance, which seemed to also somehow hinder her aging, even more so than Hank's power. However, in her natural form, she possessed blue skin, something which she had been hiding ,for obvious reasons.

The second recruit to teach was a man named Warren Worthington III, a man whose father Charles had known as his Science professor while in University. Worthington possessed large white bird-like wings, giving him an almost angelic appearance. As well as that, he was possessing of a healing factor and a superior level of longevity to most.

The third and final new recruit was a young Japanese man called Shiro Yoshida. He had the power to create and manipulate fire, even being able to use it to fly. However, this ability seemed to have it's limits, seeming not to work as well without some kind of solar source.

"Well then, Charles, what now?" Eric said "We have our staff? Where do you propose we go from here?"

"I've been looking into that." Charles said "As you know, Hank and I have been spending a lot of time in Cerebro recently. We've modified it to record everything and everyone we find."

"You're keeping records now?" Eric said "Charles, this was already invasion of people's privacy, and now you're pushing it further?"

"Eric, I wasn't a big fan of the idea at first myself." Hank said "However, Charles and I talked it over and we agree, this is the best way to do this."

"I see." Eric said, putting his drink on the desk "Charles, what is the point in me staying here if you're going to keep me in the dark over everything?"

"Eric, this isn't me trying to keep you in the dark at all." Charles replied "I simply made the decision myself for the good of the school and the ease of recruitment to it."

"That's it." Eric said "Charles, you're my friend, but I can't do this anymore. I can't stay here while you dictate everything that happens, whether it's moral or not, and yet sit on your ass as our fellow mutants are attacked and killed on the streets every day. There's a war coming, Charles, and you're too concerned about your school."

Eric didn't give Charles a chance to counter the argument before getting up and walking out. Charles watched as his friend walked out and sighed before looking to Hank.

"He's right." Charles said "I'm getting so caught up in this school, I'm forgetting it's meant to be here to help train mutants to use their abilities."

"Well, there's no reason we can't do both." Hank said, grinning lightly at Charles "After all, I seem to recall you were something of a hero."

Charles sighed to himself. He knew Eric. If he thought there would be a war between humans and mutants, chances are, he would end up causing it. They needed to be ready to deal with Eric and whatever kind of force he would have. But whoever Charles got would need training, and would need to be ready to protect people who feared and hated them.

"Hank." He said after a long pause "Get any faculty members that haven't chosen to go with Eric. I know at least one or two will have. Any that remain, tell them we're going on a recruitment drive. The Xavier school for gifted youngsters is open for business."

**...**

**So, that's that. Xavier's school opens in 1985. The next chapter will be the actual opening to the fic, so keep reading. Please, R&R, no flames. B.**


End file.
